Karachi: Financial results from Shahtaj Sugar Mills Limited for the nine months ending June 30, 2024, reveal no dividend payout, as reported today.

The company's financial performance shows a mixture of fluctuations across the period with significant variances when compared to the previous year. According to information available from the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the Board of Directors, in a meeting at noon on July 29, 2024, decided against distributing any cash dividends or other benefits to shareholders.

Revenue from contracts with customers netted PKR 7,358.44 million this period, a slight decrease from PKR 7,681.72 million in 2023. However, costs of sales were also lower at PKR 6,465.58 million compared to PKR 6,613.20 million the previous year, leading to a gross profit of PKR 892.86 million, down from PKR 1,068.52 million in 2023.

The operational costs, including distribution and administrative expenses, were reported at PKR 16.51 million and PKR 292.73 million, respectively. Other operating expenses amounted to PKR 9.35 million. After accounting for these, the net operational profit stood at PKR 603.42 million, a decrease from PKR 800.68 million in 2023.

The finance cost incurred by the company was PKR 498.53 million, an increase from the previous year's PKR 427.01 million, which heavily impacted the profitability. The net profit after taxation was recorded at PKR 48.25 million, significantly lower than the PKR 201.55 million reported last year.

Earnings per share also saw a drastic decrease to PKR 4.02 from PKR 16.78. The quarterly report will be issued separately through PUCARS.